Potential of On-shore Wind Power in the Coastal Areas of Balochistan, Pakistan

摘要

Balochistan province has about 800 km long coastline whose continental shelf extends to a distance of 15-40 km. Pakistan Meteorological Department has recorded wind speed for two years at 22 on-shore locations at 10 m and 30 m heights and estimated at 50 m height using power law. The wind duration availability in terms of numbers of hours the wind remained in a particular bin was also calculated by constructing the wind rose diagrams. The mean value of two years has been estimated and used in this study for the construction of wind duration curves for 20 selected locations. Using wind duration curves and Nordex N43/600 wind turbine as reference turbine, theoretical wind power potential at these locations has been estimated. The geographical potential has been estimated considering population density and excluding low wind areas. Finally, the technical potential has been estimated. The theoretical potential at most of the sites is in the range of 1000-1400 full load hours per year. The suitable area for wind turbine installation has been estimated as 7,700 km2. The annual technical potential of centralized grid connected wind power in the coastal area of Balochistan has been estimated as 42.5 TWh, which is about half of the current gross electricity generation in Pakistan.